The Power Outage
by ljubav1986
Summary: A heat wave causes a city-wide power outage, and Helen and Nikola find a creative way to survive the lack of air conditioning.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I finally have working air conditioning, and after three weeks in the 90s, can I just say that it is about time? To celebrate, I decided to write about a power outage at the Sanctuary, which is to say, I decided to write about Helen and Nikola taking clothes off, and decided I needed a little bit of a plot for appearances sake. Reviews are love! **

Helen was at her desk catching up on paperwork when the power went out. She grabbed her walkie. "Henry?" She called.

"It wasn't me, doc!" He answered. "I'm not sure what happened, but I'm working on it."

"Check with—"

"The vamp? Yup, that's what 'I'm working on it' means." Helen smiled.

"Make sure he's not building anything too dangerous, okay? And get the power back on soon. It's 103 outside. I haven't seen a day this hot in Old City since I moved here. It is going to get warm in here SOON."

"Copy that," Henry said, "Maybe worst case scenario, I can reroute backup power to the A/C."

"I'm headed down to the labs, as well," Helen said as she walked out the door. She very nearly ran straight into Nikola, who was headed into her office as she was leaving.

"Henry, I found Nikola. He's in my office."

"Headed that way," Henry said.

"Nikola, what did you do this time?" Helen asked the troublesome vampire. He looked wounded.

"Why, Helen, I am hurt that you would think that I had—"

"Do I need to make a _list_ of the times that you've knocked our systems offline?"

"Point taken. But it really wasn't me this time. I was reading a book."

Henry joined the two. "Is it possible this isn't isolated to the Sanctuary?" Helen asked him.

"Let me see," Henry pulled out his phone and did some searching. "Yup. It looks like the heat has caused a city-wide power outage. We still have our back-up generators keeping the SHU and EM shield running, but they say it could take hours to fix, so we had better leave all the power for emergency systems. Sorry about the A/C, Doc," he added at the end.

"Well, I survived for decades before it was even invented. I can manage for a few hours," Helen said matter-of-factly. "I think I am going to relocate to the library, however. It is cooler in there, and I am clearly getting no more paperwork done this afternoon." She was secretly looking forward to an afternoon to catch up on reading.

"I'm going to go keep an eye on backup systems. I'll let you know if there are any problems," Helen thanked him and Henry headed back to his lab.

Nikola looked at her expectantly.

"What?" She asked. "Weren't you doing something?"

"I told you, I was reading. In the library. It looks like we are headed the same direction." He smiled, and Helen sighed.

"All right, but behave yourself," she admonished.

"Who, me?" He smiled widely as they walked down the hall.

_A few hours later…_

"I miss electricity," Helen sighed, wiping sweat off her forehead. "I can't believe how quickly it warmed up in here."

"Well, it is 103 and sunny. And the insulation-or lack thereof-in this building is far from energy efficient."

"Such a practical answer," Helen whined. She was cranky, and it was entirely too hot for tea, which only exacerbated the problem.

Nikola looked at Helen's wardrobe. "Helen, darling, it is 90 degrees and stuffy in here and you are wearing pantyhose and a suit jacket. You are absolutely ridiculous."

She returned the look. "Says the man in a three-piece suit."

"Are you telling me I should strip?" He grinned suggestively.

"I'm suggesting that, given the circumstances, it would be perfectly appropriate to at least limit yourself to the dress shirt and vest. I think two layers are still perfectly modest," she teased at his antiquated sense of dress.

"I don't see you shedding _your_ suit jacket," he observed. Helen swallowed. All she had under her jacket was a white shell that was rather sweat soaked by this point.

"I'd rather not. I could just go change into something cooler." She stood up to leave.

"Helen…." Nikola challenged. "What are you wearing under that jacket?" She sat down, defeated.

"Jacket _and_ vest," She insisted, pointedly.

"But Helen, all I have under that is a thin white shirt that is positively..." he trailed off, realizing the point she was making. His eyes widened.

He quickly jumped to his feet, shedding the jacket and vest. Helen tried not to stare at him, but he might as well have been topless, and his daily swimming routine kept him in good shape. He caught her admiring his body and smirked.

"Fair is fair," He said, pulling her to her feet. She made the obligatory attempt to protest as he unbuttoned the two buttons on the front of her black jacket, slowly pulling it off her shoulders. He didn't try to hide his admiration as she was left standing there in her pencil skirt and white silk sleeveless blouse, which was soaked through, very clearly showing the piece of white lace she wore underneath it. And, as Helen confirmed with a glance, everything beneath the lace, as well. "Now, isn't that better?" He said, huskily.

She tried to back away from him, but he held her in place, gently but firmly. Helen instinctively reached up and pressed a palm against his damp shirt. "Let me go," she insisted, half-heartedly.

"Say it like you mean it," he teased, tilting her chin up with the hand that wasn't holding her arm. Without telling it to, Helen's free hand moved from his chest to around his neck, pulling him closer. Their faces were inches apart when Nikola closed the distance, kissing her softly.

Helen knew should be protesting, that this was all kinds of a bad idea. Her body betrayed her, however, as she deepened the kiss. He finally let her other arm go, and it snaked around the small of his back, pulling him closer to her. She moaned softly into his mouth when she felt him press against her. She was suddenly, painfully aware of how much clothing they were still wearing.

Nikola, as always, was a step ahead of her, searching for buttons, laces, _anything_ that provided a way to remove that close fitting blouse. Helen broke their kiss, giggling and gasping for air. She raised her arms straight into the air, and Nikola finally saw the hidden zipper running up the side. He made short work of the garment, taking a moment to stare at the useless white lace bra underneath. While he was otherwise distracted, Helen deftly unbuttoned his shirt. He tossed the garment aside and kissed her again, hungrily, hands wandering freely. When they finally needed air, he gasped out "Are you sure about this?" She hushed him with another kiss.

"I don't start things I'm not interested in finishing," she told him with a grin. He answered her grin with a wide smile as he searched for the zipper on her skirt and she fumbled with his belt. They didn't even notice the lights come back on as they continued to remove clothing.

They also didn't hear the library door open. "Hey, Doc, all systems look good now that the-AUGH!" Henry fled as quickly as he had entered.

The couple sprang apart like someone had fired a gun. "Bloody hell," Helen muttered, observing the clothing tossed haphazardly around the room and, for the first time, consciously realizing their state of undress.

Tesla cleared his throat. "Wolfgang should knock."

"Didn't expect us to be going at it in the library, did he?" She retorted.

"Well, it shouldn't really surprise him," He said, moving back to where she stood. "It's clear how attracted to me you are," he teased.

"Cheeky bastard," she muttered. He grabbed her close and kissed her again. She couldn't believe how quickly her brain stopped working when he did that. "Let's look on the bright side," she muttered, "He won't be back for awhile…"


	2. The Second Power Outage

**A/N: On request, I wrote a sequel that lives up a bit more to the story's rating. *blushes* This is my first attempt at such, so, well, feedback is always welcome! **

The next morning's staff meeting was somewhat awkward, to say the least. Kate and Will had been on a mission the day before, but had returned early in the morning. They were met by a traumatized Henry, who told them about the power outage and about walking in on Magnus and Tesla practically in the throws.

So there the five of them sat. Henry looked queasy. Will was pissed. Kate was not even trying to hide her grin, because she had known it was coming. Helen looked like a kid who had snuck into the cookie jar: incredibly guilty but also smugly self-satisfied. Nikola looked very much like Helen only without the guilt and with an extra helping of smug.

"Okay, well, all the systems are online and fully functional. So it seems like the power outage didn't have any serious side-effects other than…" as Henry trailed off, Kate coughed knowingly. Nikola and Helen exchanged a knowing glance.

"Seriously, Henry, are you sure there weren't any breaches in any of the enclosures?" Will asked. Everyone looked at him, confused.

"Umm…yeah, I'm sure, why?"

"I was just wondering if maybe one of the nubbins got out and nobody noticed." Will shoved his chair back from the table and headed towards the door. "I have paperwork to catch up on," he said as he left.

"Well, I think that just about covers every—" Magnus was interrupted by the power going off. Again.

"Nooo!" Henry moaned. "Not. Again. Doc, can't you call the mayor or something?"

Helen sighed. "Unfortunately it's another day for the heat records, and the infrastructure just isn't designed to handle the overload. With luck it will be cooler tomorrow." Henry left to go check on the backup generators, leaving Helen, Nikola, and Kate in the room. The latter looked between the two of them and jumped up with a grin.

"I'm going to go help with the lunchtime feedings," she said happily and practically bounced from the room, leaving Helen and Nikola alone.

"Well, the children certainly are entertaining today," he mused.

"Nikola, can you blame them, really? Henry is like my own son, Will is half in love with me, and Kate, well, she can't help feeling self-satisfied, thinking that she saw it coming before I did."

Nikola leered and moved closer to her. "But she doesn't that yesterday was far from the first time that we've screwed each other senseless…"

"Technically she doesn't even know about this time. Henry came in before, not during, thankfully. We may have been so mortified we went back to reading, for all he knows," Helen said, trying to convince herself more than Nikola.

He chuckled. "Oh, Helen, anyone who was in the Sanctuary knows that we picked up exactly where we left off before we were interrupted. Of your many, many skills, staying quiet while you—"

"Yes, perhaps I am a bit loud…"she admitted, sheepishly.

"So, what are we going to do with another day free of electricity? We could always read again…" he said suggestively.

"I have a better idea, and it might actually keep us cool."

….

The Sanctuary's indoor pool got little use except by Nikola, who was strict about his daily morning swimming. Everyone else could only wistfully dream about having such leisure time. When Helen walked in, Nikola was already there, looking perfectly comfortable lying on his back at the edge of the water with his feet dangling in. His hands were behind his head supporting his neck and pulling his chest taut as he turned to look at Helen. "Surely you aren't planning on swimming in that?" he teased at her running shorts and tank top.

"Not at all. I couldn't very well go running across the Sanctuary in my swimwear, now could I?" Nikola got to his feet and walked over to her. He was already down to his just-barely-appropriate-length swim trunks that showed off enough of his body that Helen was already losing her interest in swimming.

"I did," he pointed out.

"Yes, well, my swimwear is a bit more risqué," she hinted. His eyes widened and he looked to her for permission. She smiled and nodded. He took another step closer, then leaned in and kissed her softly, at the same time reaching to pull up her tank top and reveal her swimsuit. He fiddled at the hem and was met with bare skin, grinning into the kiss a bit at the reassurance it was a two-piece. Helen broke the kiss and pulled her arms over her head so that he could pull the top off.

"Ohh, Helen…" he half moaned, tossing the tank top aside. There was no swim top. "Skinny dipping today?"

"I wanted to be cool," she said, as a measure of explanation. Her eyes were dark with lust and completely gave away her real intentions. Nikola kissed her again, firmly, then trailed kisses across her jaw, to that spot on her ear that always drove her crazy, then down her neck and chest until he cupped a breast in his hands and captured her nipple in his mouth. He rolled it on his tongue and she moaned, digging her nails into his back. He gave her other breast the same treatment then came up to claim her mouth again.

"Swim bottoms?" he asked when they finally had to get some oxygen.

"Find out for yourself," she challenged as she leaned into his neck and found _that_ spot, biting lightly. Nikola moaned and reached down for her shorts; a quick tug and they fell uselessly to the ground. His swim trunks were the next to go. Helen pushed him backwards gently and they sunk down to the tiled floor, Helen straddling his hips as she continued her assault on his neck, quickly moving down his chest. Nikola could tell where she was headed, and while he couldn't complain as such, he was already hard to the bursting point and not sure how much teasing he could handle. Taking control of the situation, he flipped them over, kissing Helen as her back arched against the floor and she rubbed up against him eagerly. He reached a hand down between her legs to massage her clit, and she moaned and tried not to thrust into his hand.

"Mmm…you're already so wet, and we haven't even been swimming yet," he murmured. Helen ran her hands into his hair and started kissing and nipping at his neck in an effort to make him forget that he planned on taking his time. She could feel herself getting close, and she wanted to come with him inside her.

"Nikola," she urged, reaching down to take him in her hand. She pumped a few times and he moaned and then kissed her soundly as he moved her hand out of the way and positioned himself above her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he slowly pushed into her. She gasped at the sensation of him stretching her as they began to move in sync with each other's bodies. Soon they were sweat-soaked and moaning with every thrust. Nikola could tell she was getting close as her rhythm started to falter and she clung to him loosely. He reached a hand between them and swiped at her clit once more and she came, yelling inarticulately as she quivered and convulsed around him. He thrust a few more times and then moaned his own release.

They collapsed onto the floor, clinging to each other in a pleasurable haze. Eventually Nikola pulled away from her and propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her. "You're beautiful," he said with a bit of awe. She reached up and kissed him.

"You aren't so bad yourself," she looked away awkwardly. They had so far remained reluctant to define whatever it was that they had, except to admit that it usually involved long stretches of time trying to be friends followed by a few days of accomplishing nothing but screwing each other senseless. He sensed her thoughts and decided to lighten the mood, grinning as he rose to his feet.

"So, we were going to go swimming?" he reminded her, helping her up.

"Yes, well, first I think we need a shower," she observed, tugging his arm in the right direction. He followed, eagerly.

They never actually made it to the pool that day….


End file.
